Police: Teen charged in wreck that killed Pollard stole car morning of crash

Columbus police said the teen charged in the April 18 wreck that killed Carver High baseball coach David Pollard stole a vehicle about an hour before the three-vehicle crash.

Authorities said 19-year-old William C. Cross stole a 2007 Audi A8 valued at $9,000 from the 1800 block of Somerset Avenue around 11:30 a.m. He was driving at a high speed when he ran a stop light at the intersection of Buena Vista and Andrews roads and crashed into Pollard’s vehicle, which then struck another vehicle.

Police said Cross fled the scene on foot by the time they arrived to the area at 12:53 p.m.

Pollard, 36, died of blunt-force trauma at 1:52 p.m., said Muscogee County Chief Deputy Coroner Freeman Worley. He was married with a 9-year-old daughter.

Cross was taken into custody at 12:30 p.m. Monday at the Value Place hotel on Victory Drive. He was charged with homicide by vehicle, felony murder and theft by taking auto and transported to the Muscogee County Jail.

Cross was enrolled at Carver, Spencer and Hardaway high schools, said Valerie L. Fuller, director of communications at the Muscogee County School District. He attended Carver from Aug. 13, 2012, to Aug. 13, 2014, before attending Spencer from Aug. 25, 2014, to Sept. 15, 2014. He went on to attend Hardaway from Sept. 23, 2014, to March 19, 2015, Fuller said.

Police said they will not comment further on the incident until Cross’ preliminary hearing, which is set for 9 a.m. today in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 8:12 AM with the headline "Police: Teen charged in wreck that killed Pollard stole car morning of crash."